Good to have Ambassador Todd Robinson confirmed as Assistant Secretary for @StateINL. Ambassador Robinson will surely continue the bureau’s mission to keep Americans safe from crime, illegal drugs, and instability abroad.

MCM’s stature is in part the product of elections brought about by the Biden administration. Her latest shot at toppling the dictatorship is in part the product of a political opening engineered by the Trump administration. This should always be a bipartisan cause.

The Trump administration has drained CISA, a federal agency tasked with protecting election systems, of its staff and resources. Some state authorities said they no longer trusted the administration enough to share information with the agency. propublica.org/article/cisa-…

Noche de reencuentro en nuestra Caracas. Por el reencuentro de cada familia, por la Libertad de cada preso político, por la Libertad de Venezuela.

This is quite something ! Serbian RTV channel starts yesterday's bulletin by apologizing to viewers👇 "For years, we failed to fulfill our duty. We kept silent, turned a blind eye, reported events one-sidedly and failed to ask necessary questions. We owe our viewers an apology”

Deservedly scathing op-ed by the NYT: “If Democrats retake both houses of Congress, and more state governments than they now control, it will tell the world that Mr. Trump does not represent most Americans. It will demonstrate that a country that starts to slide toward autocracy can move back to normalcy, as happened in Hungary this spring. Most important, it will create a desperately needed check on Mr. Trump during his final two years in office. … In a 21-month span, he has done more harm to democracy and the rule of law than any other president in the modern era and perhaps longer than that. He has broken his oath to defend the Constitution by trying to rewrite it on his own. He has refused to honor Congress’s power of the purse and misused national security laws for political ends. He has defied federal court orders on Medicaid funding, deportation orders and more. He has dismantled the Justice Department’s legacy as an impartial enforcer of federal law, turning it into an instrument of retribution against his adversaries while canceling investigations into his allies. He has appointed inept sycophants to oversee crucial government functions, including law enforcement, national defense and public health. He has sought to disenfranchise large numbers of voters, claiming fraud that cannot be found, and championed an extreme new approach to partisan gerrymandering. He has physically besmirched the White House by demolishing the East Wing and financing a garish renovation with donations from wealthy allies.” nytimes.com/2026/10/27/opini…

The trip highlights the remarkable relationship between a son of the US president and a tycoon with a criminal record who has close ties to Vladimir Putin’s personal security service. Intelligence experts say such connections are ripe for manipulation. ft.trib.al/p0LBRYI

So much losing for DoJ on election stuff.

Venezuela’s ruling troika, facing mass opposition, announce…a concert on Nov 1!! Oh, and Christmas is on the way. Meanwhile, Venezuelans are seething over blackouts, 400% inflation, and the economy.

MacCallum: The Cheesecake Factory comment goes exactly to why Democrats lost the middle class, why they lost blue-collar voters. Because it's kind of a guns and religion clinging kind of comment and it turns a lot of people in this country off

"The Cuban regime has stifled any viable domestic opposition. But the withering of the state—a process that has been under way for decades—has accelerated, and is shocking to see up close" From Robert Worth, @TheAtlantic theatlantic.com/magazine/202…

Elon Musk has spent more money on American elections in the last two years than George Soros has in his entire life.

US voters worried about corruption under Trump — FT poll ft.trib.al/kgErEai

Breaking News: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated Flávio Bolsonaro to stay president of Brazil, halting the right’s march in Latin America. Follow live updates. nyti.ms/4iFMwIg

These scenes present a profound challenge to the budding Trump-Rodriguez kleptocracy

WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE President Trump escalated his invective against Norway, calling it a ‘shit house country’ and saying Norwegian immigrants are not welcome in the United States because the Nobel committee, based in the capital Oslo, has not awarded him a Peace Prize reut.rs/3U1joSt

More than 5 million people have lost their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits since President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill passed last year. That has meant many more people are turning to food banks for support. to.pbs.org/47Sb4rd

Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia's former president and dominant political figure for more than a decade, conceded defeat to the student-led protest movement in the country's parliamentary elections. While the final election results were yet to be announced, independent observers reported that voter turnout could reach its highest level in decades, approaching 70 percent after a day of long lines at polling stations. By @RSE_Balkan ⬇️

JUST IN: Nicki Minaj has reportedly been floated as the next White House press secretary by senior Trump staffers. — TMZ

Muslims didn’t storm the Capitol on January 6, try to steal an election, or overthrow our government. White Christian nationalists, racist militia groups, and rabid Trump supporters did. We need to stop pretending the biggest terrorist threat to this country is coming from somewhere else.

Algunas certezas sobre el regreso de María Corina Machado. -Esto tomó por sorpresa a todos, incluido Miraflores y La Casa Blanca. -Su retorno no es el resultado de las negociaciones, es el resultado de su decision de regresar a Venezuela, que es su lugar del mundo donde su vida tiene propósito. -El Gobierno de Estados Unidos no impidió su retorno, pero tampoco lo facilitó, sino habría regresado por Maiquetia y posiblemente acompañada por un funcionario de la administración Trump. -Su regreso a Venezuela es el hecho político más importante después del 3 de enero, y tendrá consecuencias. -Machado, con su indiscutible liderazgo tiene la legitimidad y, sobretodo, la responsabilidad de liderar el proceso de transición a la democracia en Venezuela. -Machado se convierte en un catalizador de un proceso que el gobierno de Delcy solo podría frenar con represión, para lo cual, como es sabido, necesitaría el aval del gobierno de los Estados Unidos. En lo personal, veo difícil que en medio de la actual coyuntura política de los Estados Unidos, a menos de 15 días de las elecciones de mid-term, y aun después de estas, avalen un proceso de control represivo que se convertiría en la noticia dentro y fuera de Venezuela. La alternativa: Una clara ruta electoral e irreversible que garantice un cambio político en Venezuela, que es lo que todo el país reclama.